“Thanks, been feeling kinda naked all afternoon.” He grinned.
“Yeah,” I replied. “Just don’t forget to load it,” I said and stepped over to join them.
Richard walked over to my position and nudged me with another one of the shotguns. I took the weapon and looked at it, deciding which would be better in this situation. The shotgun seemed to be the obvious choice, even though in these confined spaces they were going to be loud as all hell. I tucked the handgun into a leg holster that was designed to house my PDA and secured it with a Velcro strap that dangled beside it. It was an awkward fit, and the weight of the weapon felt strange on my thigh, but that was the least of my worries at the moment.
The noises in the hallway seemed to be getting closer. The only problem we had at this point was the fact that this particular hallway only had one exit. That happened to be straight down until we hit the T-junction we had entered through. According to Richard, if we followed the hallway straight down, we would pass by several holding cells and continue down to find the entrance into the motor pool, which is where we had decided to head next. Now it was just a matter of getting through what was beyond the doors.
“Ideas?” I asked, looking back and forth between Rich and Marvin. Both men shrugged, and I let out a long sigh. “Well, we can’t wait here. We don’t know exactly how many are out there, but from the sounds of it, there’s at least a few. I’m afraid if we wait too long, the assholes at the front door will figure out how to get in here, and then we’re up shit-creek,” I finished, and the men nodded in agreement. “Question is, after we hit the motor pool, then what? Where are we headed? I know where I want to go, but how’s about the two of you?” I asked, pretty much already figuring the answer.
Marvin was the first one to pipe up. “I need to get home to my wife, bub,” he said with a hint of desperation.
I gritted my teeth, knowing that the old man would probably never make it, not on his own anyway.
Marvin’s household laid smack dab on the edge of the city. He and his wife resided in a small row home in what was considered to be Baltimore County but was more or less part of the city itself. I knew this to be the case, for as many times, the man remarked on the fact that some asshole always seemed to manage to park in his parking spot anytime we made it home late. Marvin would then call the police, whom would show up and have the car towed and the owner fined due to the fact that he had only one leg, and the spot was reserved for handicap vehicles only. Marvin never liked the fact that he needed such a spot, but truth be told, at the end of a long day, walking three or four blocks to his home on aching knees and a prosthetic leg was not his idea of a good time. If the disease had spread out into the city where the population was much, much denser, then the old guy was in for some trouble. Personally, I’d prefer to stay as far away from the city of Baltimore as possible. I cocked the shotgun, preparing for the worst, and looked to Richard.
“Rich, you?” I asked, and he shook his head somberly.
“I have no one to go home to. I guess wherever you go, I go,” he said.
I was actually pleased to hear it, although I felt slightly guilty for the emotion. “My goal is to get home as well. My wife is a smart woman, but I’m not sure how she’s gonna deal with all this,” I said and pointed out toward the noises in the hall. “Anyway, enough of the chitchat. I think we should probably concentrate on getting to the vehicles before we nail down exactly what we’re going to do.” I moved to head off into the hallway, wanting to just get in there and do what needed to be done, when Richard stopped me.
“Hang on a second.” Rich ran around to the opposite side of the room. He fumbled in the dark for a moment and let out a “Yes,” and then ran back over to me and Marvin and began handing out what looked like old police radios. “Here, take these,” he said and passed one of the ancient-looking devices over to me, and then handed one to my partner. “In case we get separated, we can communicate with these. They run on the old analog frequencies and shouldn’t be affected by whatever it is Homeland is doing. I haven’t heard a thing on my new radio in hours. I’m guessing something is interfering with the digital gear, probably some kind of jamming or something. Their range leaves a little to be desired, but they should work nonetheless,” he finished.
I gratefully accepted the new gear and set about equipping myself with it. We gave the gear a quick radio check, and everything seemed to be in order.
Richard stepped around in front of me and Marv and looked out into the darkness beyond the door. “I’m going to head in first. I’ve got scattershot rounds whereas you two are loaded with slugs. If we’re facing a bunch of these things, I can slow them down with this, and you two take out the stragglers. Sound like a plan?” Richard exchanged glances with Marvin and me.
“Sounds good,” we said in unison and tried our best to mentally prepare for what was about to go down.
Chapter 26
We burst through the armory door in a diamond formation with Richard taking the lead. Marvin and I took up flanking positions to the right and left slightly to the rear, providing us each a set of clear firing lanes. Last thing we wanted was to shoot Rich in the back as we got trigger happy. What we thought was the sound of only one or two infected turned out to be about a half dozen or so wandering down the hallway. The noises that we had heard were overturned trash cans and potted plants that lined the hallway’s edge.
The closest of the infected, a black man dressed in a Redskin’s jersey and a do-rag ran toward us, his hands still cuffed behind his back. He growled as he ran, and Richard took aim. He didn’t have time for a head shot, so he fired low. The sound of the weapon reverberated explosively loud in the narrow confines of the hallway, leaving us all partially deaf in the ears, the ringing blocking out most of growls and howls coming from farther down the hall.
Richard’s shot devastated the running prisoner’s legs and sent him pinwheeling to the floor. His ankles all but separated from his legs and exploded outward, showering the walls with a gory mist. He hit the ground hard with his chin, and I gasped as his teeth protruded upward through his upper lip. Around his hands where the cuffs were still attached, you could see bits of broken skin and bone where the monster had struggled with the bonds, trying to break itself free.
I took aim with my weapon and fired a slug directly into the top of its head, ending its pitiful existence.
A second figure came hurling its way into view followed by a third, both of them wearing what appeared to be the tattered remains of gray transportation authority police uniforms. Richard hesitated a moment, and then fired a burst that sent scattershot into the advancing figures at about chest height.
I watched in horror as the steel pellets did their job and decimated the creature’s flesh. Rib cages blew open, and organs spilled forth from the wounds. Amazingly, they did not stop. One of the infected officers tripped on his own intestine as it slid out of his stomach and fell to the floor in a heap, then just as quickly, he regained his footing and was on us once more. I raised my shotgun and fired past Richard. My slug caught one of the advancing officers in his upturned chin, snapping his head backward, nearly decapitating him. The figure flew back and hit the floor with a thud.
Marvin, almost in unison, fired as well. His shot, however, went wide, striking the advancing ghoul in the shoulder, sheering his arm away from its moorings.
The arm slapped to the floor, and it took as much as I had to keep from retching at the sight.
Richard took aim and fired once more; his shot struck the figure in the head at close range, bursting it apart like a watermelon. Gore rained down the hallway as the body fell to the floor.
We advanced down the line, taking care not to trip on the fallen bodies as we passed. To fall now would more than likely spell disaster for any of us. We were down to the last three enemies, these standing farthest away from us down the hallway. The figures were slightly obscured by the darkness and gun smoke that hung in the air, and reflected off our flashl
ights. We tensed, readying for another assault; it was then I heard a loud crash in the direction of the lobby.
“Oh Christ!” I breathed with the realization of what had just happened. “I think they breached the lobby.”
That did it. We had to move, and we had to move quickly. All caution went out the window at that point. We broke into a run and rapidly came upon the figures at the end of the expanse. We fired shots as we ran, not taking the time to observe the damage. At the close range, the figures were spun around and knocked to the floor. We continued on. As we passed the T-junction, the door at the end of the hallway off to our left exploded open. What looked like hundreds of creatures spilled forth through the now-open portal. White pallid faces snarled and growled as our torch beams found them. Deadened eyes stared at us and formed grimaces of rage and pain.
“Go, run, run, run!” I shouted.
We sprinted to the opposite end of the long, narrow hallway. We slammed into the opposing door and threw it open. It was then I noticed Marvin lagging behind. “Shit,” I said as I seen the first of the infected round the corner of the T-junction.
Marvin shot a glance over his shoulder and tried desperately to quicken his step. Christ, they were close.
I ran back down the hallway to Marvin’s position and grabbed him by the arm. The fevered stench of the infected hit me like a sack of bricks and caused my stomach to do flip flops in the din; the scent of vomit, body odor, and decay wafted down toward us and only seemed to spur me on as I damn near dragged Marvin along behind me.
We reached the door and hurled ourselves through as Richard slammed it closed behind us. Frantically, we searched for something to bar the door with. Thankfully, we had entered what appeared to be a garage of some sort. Off to my left was a wooden broom and dustpan. I grabbed the broom and quickly shoved it into the door handle like an old-fashioned crossbeam. I didn’t think it would hold for long, but at least it would slow them down.
To our luck, the garage itself was empty of any threats. Sunlight shown underneath a set of rolling doors off to my left and illuminated the room with a dull ambient glow. A police cruiser raised atop a hydraulic lift set in the center of the room, a series of oil and fluid catches positioned underneath. Routine maintenance, I gathered from the scene.
Richard waved us over to another door, this one leading us back outside. He paused next to a large aluminum lock box hanging on the wall next to the door and opened it. Inside of the box were rows and rows of spare keys, each labeled with a letter and number combination. Grabbing a handful of them, Richard stepped over to open the door.
Once again, Marvin and I stood off to the side and readied ourselves for what lay beyond.
Rich opened the door. I went through and flanked right, and Marvin went left, Richard then came in through the middle. Although we had never worked together as a team in the past, we must have looked like a seasoned unit of professionals to any onlooking observer.
The light in the yard was blinding at first, our eyes having adjusted to the darkness within the building. We swept over the parking lot, thankful for the series of heavy chain-link fence that had managed to keep the infected out. Now what came next was the task of finding ourselves a ride. Richard waved me and Marvin over and began passing out keys.
“I’m not sure which cars are still here. From the looks of it, the guys managed to get a few of them out this morning, so we’ll need to look for the cars that match the numbers imprinted on the keys.” Richard flipped the key fobs over and showed us the letter-number combinations embossed on their surface. “The numbers are all located on the trunk hoods of all the cars, shouldn’t be too difficult,” he said and went off in search of a vehicle.
After several minutes of searching, we managed to locate a few viable options, Richard settling on a large canary-yellow Ford explorer. Figuring it would be large enough to house not only ourselves but also any we managed to pick up along the way. I had my doubts about that, however. If it were just my wife and Marvin’s, that would be one thing; however, when this infection struck early this morning, my wife’s daycare business was in full swing, which meant she could have upward of eight children residing with her. The thought made my insides turn to acid. I hoped against hope that she had managed to protect herself and the children, and get to someplace safe. I was under no illusions that she’d remain in our homestead. The double-wide trailer we lived in wasn’t designed to stand up to much in the way of catastrophe; if she had managed to stay there, any and all hope of survival was lost. She was smart, however; this I knew, in fact, it was one of the main reasons I fell in love with her. She would have recognized the severity of the situation and followed the plans that we’d laid out and went over time and again, which meant she could be in one of two places.
There was a local drugstore at the end of our development; it was a short distance and a good sturdy location that we had picked in the event of a hurricane or a tornado, which, although rare in our area, could still happen at a moment’s notice. It was a logical choice in the way of supplies; there was food, medicine, and other necessities. The problem was the front of the building was completely exposed; that made the second option seem more plausible. That option was my folk’s place. It was comprised of solid brick and mortar on the lower level, the upper floors being made of wood, but not accessible from ground level. There was also a basement with a secondary exit and plenty of room for which to house the children. Figuring that to be her best course of action, I decided that’s where I was going to be heading.
The streets outside of the police station at the moment remained void of activity, and if I had to wager a guess, I imagined most of the infected in the immediate area had managed to find their way into the police station. Richard opened the doors to the Explorer and waved me over to join him. I paused and gave him and Marvin a cursory glance.
“I’m going to make a suggestion, you may not like it,” I said as the two men turned in my direction and looked at me with furrowed brows. Marvin cocked an eyebrow expectantly. “I think perhaps we should split up,” I finished, and Marvin about choked as he spoke.
“Bullshit,” he said.
Richard narrowed his eyes in my direction.
“Listen, guys. Marv, I know you want to get to your wife. I understand that. I want to get to mine as well. Chances are if we waste any more time, the likelihood of that happening is about nil.” I paused for a moment, gauging Marvin’s expression. “You practically live downtown. My family is in the opposite direction. If we split, we can make it to them faster, and then we can see about rendezvousing later. I know it sucks, but it’s the best chance they have. Besides, do you honestly think we can pile everyone into one vehicle?”
Marvin and Richard seemed to consider my words for a moment.
Richard had a look on his face that suggested he didn’t quite understand the dynamics of it, so I elaborated, “Rich, my wife runs a daycare center, so chances are she’s not alone. I’m gonna need an empty ride to fit everyone in, and it’s going to be cramped quarters even if it’s just me going.” That last comment got Richard’s attention.
“What do you mean, just you? I already told you wherever you go, I go,” he said expectantly.
“And I appreciate that, Rich. Truth be told, Marv could probably use your help more than I could. No offense, man,” I said, giving Marvin a sideways glance.
“None taken, bub.” Marvin shook his head. “What you say makes sense. You’re right, though. I don’t like it, and what about Homeland’s thugs? What do we do if they show up?” Marvin crossed his arms over his chest.
“I’m not sure, to be honest. Perhaps to be on the safe side, we should probably stash those documents here somewhere.” I looked around the lot, and an idea formed in my head. “Why don’t we stash the file in one of these trunks? We can swing by later and pick it up if we decide to take it to Hopkins.”
Marvin nodded considering the idea. “That sounds good but . . .” He reached into his breast pocket
and removed a small flash drive and held it between his thumb and forefinger. “Here, I found this in the case as well. I have no idea what’s on it, but I would guess it’s most likely the same information that’s in the hard file.”
Marvin tossed the small plastic device over to me. I caught it in midair, and studied it for a moment, then stuffed it in my vest pocket.
“Okay, let’s hope this thing isn’t just full of downloaded porn, and there’s something still up and running to read it. We’ll slip the hard copy into one of these cars as a backup. At least I might be able to conceal this a little easier if the need arises.” I tapped the breast pocket of my vest.
“You know them Homeland boys are known for their cavity searches, right?” Marvin quipped and cocked a sideways grin.
I smiled and sighed. “We should probably get moving. I’m not sure what time it is, but I don’t want to be stuck out here on the road after dark.” Something about that thought sent a cold chill down my spine, probably due to the fact we had just came out into the light after fighting for our lives in a dark police station.
I held three fingers up in the air in front of my face, using them to measure the distance between the sun overhead and the horizon below, an old survival technique that I had been taught some years ago. Judging from the distance, we had about four, maybe five hours of daylight left. Although it would normally only take me roughly forty-five or so minutes to get home, I had to figure with all that had transpired, the roadways were probably going to be choked with cars, or worse.
Richard climbed up into the cab of the Ford Explorer and started the engine.
“What car are you taking?” Richard craned his neck around the lot, observing the leftover vehicles.
“I was thinking I would take that.” I pointed down the lot to a dull-gray Mustang that sat on the far edge. “I want speed and maneuverability. I figured that ought to do,” I said, dangling the keys in my hand.
Dead Pulse Rising: A Zombie Novel Page 28
